Verrel Bond

Lead Singer of the Bacchii
Klubwerker of the Cult of Ecstasy
Disciple of the Crossroads Chantry

Description


~Handsome, smooth, and untamed, Verrel Bond is a true product of rock music. The young Caucasian man waxes his early twenties. His dark-brown hair is kept short, slightly curled. Verrel always wears a smile on his handsome, youthful features and swaggers with a pleasant grin on his grill. His sienna-brown eyes scan over the scene as he approaches, bright with merriness and honesty. Verrel wears the coolest clothes of his generation, from his suede shoes to his silk shirt. His speech lacks any accent and flows out smooth as honey. But that's all to be expected of a rising superstar.~

OOC: Appearance 4 (comely); Style 2; Arcane 1, Fame 2; Enchanting Voice

"Be right. Be true. Be cool."

History


Youth

Verrel wasn't always sure what he wanted out of life. When he was younger, life seemed very complicated. His parents, Sherry and Bill Bond, argued all the time. He fought with his older sister, Sophia, as siblings tend to do, especially in exacerbated home conditions. Verrel loved his family nonetheless and got along well in his St. Louis suburban neighborhood. Their townhouse was a decent homestead that his mother, a teacher's aide, and his father, a construction foreman, could just afford. But the area got worse and worse as drug dealers entered the neighborhood.

And Verrel knew his parents meant well. They tried to raise the kids well but they were constantly arguing. Verrel retreated into his hobbies, especially music. He trained his voice to sing and his hands to stroke the strings of a guitar. His parents encouraged his talents at least, as well as pressing him to pursue school. He got good grades in class and for a few years even participated in sports, namely soccer and basketball. His parents stayed proud of him, even after their divorce. At least Verrel was well liked in school. He always had plenty of friends and the handsome youth was never without a girlfriend.

As for what lay beyond? The Bonds were never a really religious family. They didn't attend church except Christmas Eve. Verrel never bought into religion. He just got into his music more and more. He trained himself on acoustic guitar and eventually switched over to electric. He abandoned sports activities in high school for music, playing all day long after school. Verrel could feel the music deeper and deeper all the time. Unsure of what those feelings meant, he experimented a bit with drugs common to his generation: pot and extasy. Pot did little for him, but he loved X. But the sensations X brought on stymied him even more. Was it just normal reaction to the drug, he wondered? Most people who took X spoke of their five senses being highly sensitized. But Verrel felt more than that. Music became almost tangible to him. He was on the edge of something, he just didn't know what.

Awakening

The year 2000 brought worries to people around the globe about the "end of the world". Verrel didn't really buy into that crap either. But the eighteen year old was looking forward to the massive New Year's gala that would be held as "the last party on earth". He and a few of his friends went to St. Louis' biggest party, where they didn't bother carding underage drinkers (unless they were little kids). Verrel got smashed and did a little X, too. The cover band jammed and filled the air with great rock music. Everyone danced. The rhythmic chaos of the party, combined with the alcohol and drugs, began to overload Verrel's brain. He looked up at the hall's ceiling and swayed with everything he felt. The whole world might be ending, he realized, and while it wasn't that he didn't care, he loved how that possibility made him feel.

When Verrel looked back down, he found himself face to face with a beautiful and exotic woman. Natalie, she introduced herself as, took Verrel's hands and they danced. After one dance, she dragged him off to a secret "fiesta" room in the hotel entertainment area. And they had sex: the most incredible sex young Verrel could ever recall. After an hour of the intense pleasure, Natalie dragged Verrel back out to the dance floor. They held each other close and despite the exhausting sex, Verrel felt more energetic and alive than ever. Verrel listened to the band, singing quietly along with the tunes he knew. He thought to entertain Natalie, but he felt the music swallowing down his throat and filling him with more passion than ever. He didn't know how to focus it all and just held Natalie tighter. His eyes fell on the grand clock in the room just as the hour hand struck twelve. He felt a strange pause, as if everything was stopping, before a delayed reaction -- either his senses, or the world around him -- went in an uproar of cheers and laughter and "Happy New Years!!!" And at that moment, Verrel realized there would be no "end of the world". It was all folly...yet he recognized what the fear of it, or perhaps rather the act of throwing caution to the wind, did to people -- and to him.

Mentorship

After that moment, Natalie tugged Verrel aside and out of the hotel. She explained to him what he saw, what he was on the border of: Awakening. It meant that with study, the world could be at his fingertips. And she proved with a brief flash of vulgar magick, elemental power crackling at her fingertips. Verrel was an instant sell. Was this what he always felt? He agreed to learn from Natalie Park. He still had to finish high school, but the last semester of it wouldn't impede his studies with Natalie much. Verrel attended lessons of strange euphoria, music, dance, drugs, and sex with the Korean-American babe everyday. He learned the ways of the Cult of Ecstasy. Verrel learned all about the Hidden World, from the Council of Traditions to the War of Ascension. Verrel worked in a music store after high school to pay the bills on the apartment he moved into. He kept in touch with his family and friends but all of his free time was spent with his mentor and lover.

And Verrel adapted Natalie's teachings. He learned how unlocking his own passions could affect the world. Verrel realized anyone could do this if they only left their fears behind and threw caution to the wind. One just had to live on the edge. Verrel's desires ran deeper and deeper as Natalie demonstrated little rituals by which he could channel those passions. He formed his own vision, too. He wanted to see everyone experiencing the world and life the way he did, without binding fears. Verrel decided he could do so best through his talented music. After three years of tuition, Natalie released Verrel. He learned all he could from the older Cultist. It was time he pursued his Path alone. To that end, she directed him to Kansas City. There was a chantry there, the Crossroads Chantry, and this city would provide for his vision better than St. Louis. Trusting her foresight and wisdom, Verrel said good-bye to his hometown.

The Bacchii

Then Verrel moved to Kansas City in late 2003. He joined the chantry but rented a small apartment elsewhere in town. Once more, he went to work for a music store (the same chain) to pay the bills. But now he looked for possible bandmates. He never did the garage band bit and didn't have any experience working in a band. But Verrel had a vision and great talent to back it up. It took several months, but he gathered a few interested guys up from clubs and local rock bands that were falling apart. Verrel got Tim Ball on drums, Chris Antonini on keyboard, and a guy who called himself "Soup" on bass guitar. They practiced their fresh brand of rock-n-roll in earnest, the four of them, with original lyrics and new sounds and rhythms.

So by early fall of 2004, they were ready to play the town. They called themselves the Bacchii and scored a few rounds on amateur nights. They quickly gravitated upwards and played a number of nightclubs in town. The Bacchii became a local hit and Verrel was looking forward to propelling themselves regionally. Maybe they'd even get to do cover concerts for national tours. Just as the group was beginning to take off, however, shit happened. First Tim went and got himself paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, putting him indefinitely out of action. Then Chris's fiancee moved out to her new job in San Francisco; the pussy-whipped keyboardist followed. It was down to Verrel and Soup and nothing Verrel could say could make Soup consider staying in the dead band. The Bacchii were finished. But Verrel wasn't about to give up so easily. He went back to the drawing board and began to recruit all over again. The Bacchii would live again and so would his dream.

Significant Other


Verrel hit it off with Nico Angel Blue in late fall of 2004. He played her club and persisted after its attractive owner until she rewarded him with a date. Things took off from there. The pair enjoy their passionate romance. It also helps Verrel by giving his band steady work in a local club. How far will they go together? Verrel can't say, but he isn't ready for children and definitely not marriage! He may love Nico, but he's not ready to devote himself to just one girl.

Nico

Significant Other


Verrel met Mistie Tanner in early winter of 2004. The young Ecstatic encountered the Sister of Hippolyta while just dancing in a nightclub. Their relationship skyrocketed into a sexual one soon after that. They expect and demand little of each other, and simply enjoy all the time they spend together that they can. Verrel hoped to bring Mistie into his reinvigorated band. He has few plans involving Mistie beyond that and the pleasure they share; it's no doubt mutual. And the talented musician that she is, she became a guitarist.

Mistie

Weakness
Livin' Large


Verrel loves the life of a rock star. He parties every night and practices what he loves all day. And in both parts of his life, he finds truth and magick. But his lifestyle is somewhat selfish. If he really wants to connect with people, he's going to have to learn to truly love beyond himself.

Likelihood of Corruption


Average.

He's a wild party-hard Cultist of Ecstasy. Temptations are his middle name. It's hard to drag a man into a life of sin if he's already basking there and feeling good about it. However, there is danger in that lifestyle even for the untamed.

Links

More on Verrel

Character Profiles

The Crossroads Chantry

E-mail me!

Main Character Hub

Back to Game Hub